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2018 World Cup Updated Odds for France, England, Belgium, Croatia Revealed
July 7, 2018
With the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup set, France are the betting favorites to become world champions for the second time.
OddsShark provided the odds for the four semifinalists, with England, Belgium and Croatia following France in that order:
The French have looked the strongest of the teams still left.
They won their first two games of the group stage before drawing with Denmark. Manager Didier Deschamps made a number of changes to his squad in that match as he focused on the knockout stage. France then put four goals past Argentina before sealing a hard-fought 2-0 win over Uruguay in the quarter-finals.
While Belgium are ranked third in the odds, they'd likely catapult to first should they prevail in the semi-finals.
The hiring of Roberto Martinez puzzled many when Belgium made it official in August 2016, but he has the country one win away from the World Cup final. The Belgians' 2-1 win over Brazil in the quarter-finals also answered many critics who questioned Martinez's tactical nous.
Generally speaking, Croatia are the only semifinalist who would be a surprise winner at this stage.
They needed penalties to beat Denmark in the Round of 16 and Russia in the quarter-finals. Spending an extra hour on the pitch, along with the stress from back-to-back penalty shootouts, could leave the Croatians exhausted in their semi-final against England on Wednesday.